1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flashlights and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a flashlight incorporating light emitting diode (LED) technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
The majority of flashlights currently marketed employ an incandescent bulb to supply the light beam. Incandescent bulbs operate adequately; nevertheless, such bulbs suffer certain disadvantages. Incandescent bulbs are fragile and often break when a flashlight is jarred. Incandescent bulbs further are inefficient in that batteries utilized to supply power are typically drained after less than an hour of continuous use. Incandescent bulbs still further allow leakage from the batteries such that the batteries are drained even when a flashlight is off.
To overcome the aforementioned problems associated with incandescent bulbs, flashlights employing LED technology have been introduced. With proper heat rejection, LED technology flashlights provide light beams comparable to the light beam from an incandescent bulb flashlight. LED technology flashlights however do not suffer the disadvantages of incandescent bulb flashlights. LED technology flashlights are rugged and not prone to break when a flashlight is jarred. LED technology flashlights further provide as much as three times the amount of battery life and do not cause leakage from the batteries. Accordingly, a flashlight employing LED technology that includes improved heat rejection will improve over both existing LED technology flashlights as well as incandescent bulb flashlights.